Electrical indicator.



No. 768,240. PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904.

L. H. & G. H. SANFORD.

ELECTRICAL INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.10, 190s.

no MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.,

1; 'fi f 6%??? 552% lgam lm's Wiigzsscs eAlfm-geys PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904.

-L. H. & G. H. SANFORD. ELECTRICAL INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I 'lllllll I ll llllllll" N0 MODEL.

Patented August 23, 1904.

UNITED STATE P TENT OFFICE.

LEWIS HENRY SANFORD ,AND GEORGE HERBERT SANFORD, OF AUGUSTA, MAINE, ASSIGNORS -OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM B. TAYLOR, OF ST.

LOUIS, MISSOURI. I

ELECTRICAL INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Iatent No. 768,240, dated August 23,1904. Application filed November 10, I903. Serial No. 180,506. (No model.)

'TO alt whom/it 771/(112/ concern:

Be it known that we, LEWIS HENRY SAN- EoRD and GEORGE HERBERT SANFORD, citi- Zens of the United States, residing at Augusta, l 1

in the county of Kennebec and State of Maine,

.have invented a new'and useful Electrical Indicator, of which the following is a specifica tion.

street-corners, railway-stations, and the like,

and has for its principal object to construct a noveland efficient automatic mechanism for use 1n street-cars, railway-cars, depots, theaters, and the like for indicating intersecting streets or announcing the names and time of arrival of trains or for indicating the next with street-car lines and railway-trains where the exhibiting-strip may bear the names of the street-crossings or stations in regular order and in which the reversal of the movement of the strip will properly display the names as the car or train makes the return trip.

A further object of the invention is to construct an indicator in which provision is made for moving thestrip at intervals to any desired extent, the strip itself being so constructed'as to determine the extent of travel and to control the operation of .the strip-actuating mechanism.

A still further object of the invention is to construct an automatic mechanism which may loe set into operatlon by the momentary ener-l claims, changes In the form, proportions, size, and

cordance with the invention. elevation looking from the left-hand end of gizing of a circuit from an external source and maintained in operatlon after belng started for any desired period of time.

With these and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear more fully, the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangements of parts hereinafter described,

I illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and This invention relates to indicators of that class employed for exhibiting the names of particularly pointed out in the appended it being understood that various minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal sectional elevation of an electrically-actuated indicator constructed in ac- Fig. 2 is an the mechanism, the casing being shown in section. Fig. 3 is a similar view looking from the opposite end of the indicator. Fig. 4: is detail sectional view, on an enlarged scale, showing the stop-block for arresting the movement of the exhibiting member. Fig.

-5 is a sectional perspective view of a portion of the strip-retarding mechamsmiand' circuit-. closing devices for shifting the operating ranged a frame 3, having suitable bearings for a, pair of shafts 4E and 5, having metallic winding-rollers 6 and 7, on which is wound a strip 8, formedvof any suitable material, the rollers serving alternately as receiving-rollers for the strip, and the ends of said strip being connected to the rollers by means of metallic tapes 9. The outer end of each tape is bent to form a hook that engages with a sta- 5 ple 10, sunk in a recess in the face of the roller in order that the strip may wind evenly on the roller, and the opposite end of the tape extends some distance along one face of the display-strip and thence passes through a slit or opening to the opposite sidethereof. These metallic tapes form circuit-closers that operate in the manner hereinafter described to reverse the direction of movement of the strip. The frame is further provided with a plurality of guiding-rollers 12, over which the display-strip is led, a pair of the rollers being so arranged as to expose a portion of the strip to the rear of the transparent panel 2.

On one end of the shafts 4 and 5 is a gear 15, to which motion may be imparted in winding up the display-strip. The frame is further provided with bearings for a main driving-shaft 16, having at one end a small pinion 17, intermeshing with a gear 18, that is carried by a stud l9, projecting from one side of a handled shifting lever 20, fulcrumed at its 'lower end on the shaft 16. The pinion 17 is rotated when the mechanism is in operation, and this movement is transmitted through the gear 18 to one or other of the gears 15, and all of the gears are preferably formed of rawhide, vulcanized fiber, or like non-conducting -materials. The lever 20 is extended out through a slot in the casing and arranged in convenient position to be shifted by the attendant in accordance with the direction in -which the display-strip is to be moved.

At that end of the shaft 16 opposite the pinion 17 is arranged a friction-disk 21, and the shaft also carries at this end a toothed locking-disk 22, with which may engage a tooth 23, carried by and insulated from a movable core 24: of a solenoid 25, that is sup ported by the frame, the windings of the solenoid being connected in a circuit 26, that leads to a point outside the car or railwaytrain and is connected to a suitable circuitcloser that may be operated by a projection on the road-bed, by contact with a third rail, or otherwise operated in order to close the circuit and energize the solenoid at the desired intervals, as when nearing intersecting streets or stations, or in a theater the circuit-closing device may take the form of a push-button located in the wings. The frame further carries a rock-shaft 27, at one end of which is secured an arm 28, havinga pin-andslot connection with the movable solenoid, and said rock-shaft further carries a circuitclosing arm 29, at the upper end of which is a metallic block 30, insulated from said arm.

. WVhen the solenoid 25'is energized and the core raised, the tooth 23 leaves the wheel 22 and arm 28 is raised. This moves the arm 29 to the rear and causes the block 36 to enter between a pair of contacts 31 and 32, that form the terminals of a local circuit by which the strip is moved.

The frame is provided with bearings for the support of a shaft 35, on which is secured a worm-wheel 36, intermeshing with a worm 37 on ashaft 38, held in suitable bearings at the lower portion of the casing, and this shaft 2-38 is connected to or is formed integral with the armature-shaft of a motor 39 of any desired type. At one end of the shaft is secured a friction-disk 11, and the movement of this d isk is transmitted to the friction-disk 21 through an intervening friction-disk a3, that is carried by the core 4A of a solenoid 15, connected in series with the motor.

The strip 8, on which the advertising or other material is arranged, is provided at suitable intervals with slits or openings 16. through which may pass a stop-block 1-7, hung on the outer end of an arm 18, that is secured to rockshaft 27. The pivot-pin connecting the arm 48 to the stop-block is rigidly secured to the arm &8 and is provided with a diametral slot for the reception of one end of a flat spring 4:9, the opposite end of which enters a slot in a small pin 19, carried by the shank portion of the block, so that said block will normally be maintained in a central position and when swung to one side or the other by engagement with an opening in the strip will beinstantly restored to its central position as soon as the spring is allowed to act. During the movement of the exhibiting-strip the block 1 7 rests on the surface of the strip until one of the openings 16 comes into alinement therewith, whereupon the block immediately falls through the opening and stops the strip at the proper point, and this stopping movement further serves to positively stop all of the operatin mechanism and to break the local operating-circuit.

In order to retard the unwinding movement of the strip and prevent the accun'iulation of slack, friction-strips are arranged adjacent to each of the strip-supporting rollers, said strips being formed of metal and b raring directly on the paper or other material of which the strip is formed. The friction strips or bars 60 are carried byarms 61,projecting from rock shafts 62. The shafts 62 are each provided with helical compression-springs 63, that serve to impart the necessary pressure to the friction strips or bars.

To provide for the automatic shifting of the strip-actuating mechanism, the stud 19, which carries the gear 18, is connected to a bar 65, formed of insulating material, the ends of the bar being connected to the movable cores 66 and 67 of solenoids 68 and 69, respectively, and these solenoids are arranged in circuits that are operated or energized by contact of the friction strips or bars with the metallic tapes 9 in order to shift the position of the gear 18 from one of the gears to the other when the strip has been fully unwound from one of its carrying-rollers.

. The electrical circuits which control the operation of the mechanism are of the most simple character and maybe traced in connection with a description oi. the operation of the mechanism.

When the circuit including thesblenoid is closed, as by any ordinary push-button or other circuit closing mechanism, the tooth 9.3

is lifted from engagement with the tootheddisk 22 and thence raises the stop-block 4:? from engagement with one of the openings 46 in the exhibiting-strip. At the same time the arm 29 is moved and the block enters between the two terminals 31 and 32, closing acircuit which may be traced from a battery X to mo tor 39, solenoid 4.5,bell Y, contact 31, block 30, contact 32, and thence to battery. This immediately starts the motor into operation, and the solenoid 45 draws the friction-disk 43 into engagement with the two frictioirdisks 2i and ll, so that the rotations of the motor will be transmitted tothe shaft 16, that carries disk 21. This occurs almost instantanecuslyand the strip starts to move, so that the opening in the strip passes beyond the stripblock 47. The external circuit-closing device may then he released, and the stop-shoe rests on the surface of thcstrip it will be impossible for the tooth 23 to descend or for the block to leave its place between the terminals 31. and 32. 'lfhesha'lt 16 in rotating transmits its movement to one or other of the gears 15, and the receiving-roller is turned to wind up a portion of the exhihitingstrip. When a sutlicient quantity has been wound, a second opening i6 of the strip will come under the stop-block 4:7, and the latter will fall. This immediately breaks the local circuit by Witlr drawing the block 30 from between the terminals 31 and 32, and the tooth 23 is allowed to descend into contact with the toothed dislo immediately stopping the operation of the la ter. At the same time the solenoid 45 is deenergized, and friction-disk 4C3 will not be pressed into engagemi-mt with the disks 2i and ll with Si'lillclllt force to transmit rotative movement. the time the std rblock drops into one of the opei'iings it slightly tilts the block. moving" it from its vertical position, so that when on. asnbsc uent closing of the external circuit the block is raised it will be impossible for the hloch ieeziterthe same opening even it the closing of the circuit is only momentary. 'lhis eil'ected by the small. straightening-- spring, which restores'thc block to vertical position as soon as it is released from the og'ieningr. This operation is continued at in tervals until the exhibiting-strip has been fully unwound from one oi the rollers. At 1,; time one of the metallic bars will cn- The momentum of the strip at,

strip, a receivi m an gage the metallic tape 9 at that end of the strip which is exposed, and the circuit will he; completed from" a battery Z to arm 61, strip 60, metallic tape 9, metallic winding-roller, to one or other of the solenoids 68 or69, and thence to the battery in order to change the position of the intermediate gear 18, and after the position of the gear is shifted the mechanism will continue to operate, but in the reverse direction. This is particularly valuable for street-car lines, where at the completion of atrip in one direction the strip will have become unwound, and in starting on the return trip the gearwill be shifted and the strip rewound in the opposite direction, correctly displaying the names or the intersecting streets or crossings in their proper order.

The lever 20 is of value, inasmuch as it permits the reversal of the direction of movement of the strip at any point along the line should the car be unable from any cause to complete its trip or on cars or trains that travel but a portion of the length of the road.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. in an indicator, an exhibiting-strip hava plurality of perforations, a receivingfor; checking rotative movement of the roller,

and means controllable by the movement oi the stopblock for cutting off the supply of the moter actnating' medium.

2. in an indicator, an exhibiting'elrip, an electric motor for .lriving the same, an electrically-actnated means for connecting and disconnecting the mote and strip, circuithrealling devices controllable by the strip, and cir cults in which the motor, and the connecting means are included.

in an'indicator, exhibiting-strip having a 'ilurality oi perforations, a receiving roller for the strip, motor, a train of gearing for connecting the motor to the winding-roller, one of the gears being; normally .lisconnected, and means for moving the disconnected gear to operative position in the train.

4i. .ln-an electrical indicator, an exhibiting roller for the p, a motor, a train oi." gnarl in, l'or connectni; tne motor to the roller, one. of the gears oi the train being normally di J solenoid. lor moving the dieconnec ed go: a circuit in which. the solenoid included, and mes. for opening and closing the circuit.

in an electricallyeictuated indicator, an exhihiting-strip having a plurality of perforations, a rccei'vin -roller tor the strip, a motor, a train of ,igearing forconnccting the mo tor to the roller, and including normally disconnected gear, a solenoid arranged in operative relations to said gear, a circuit in which SECQIPOK' k aiiapteu m m? the strip there ping bile i?" Yemeni-i Bop-block 1e and nu mite-noun simian ind'wmw, IL

a v 0H0? ti 3 non outed gear-tin ending; fiosn bin: :iotnz' to the roller, 2M0 enoid fol-swimming ieggenr-ixi'zsin,

id :1 an) 1 Li 1Q. eri:

in Fifi-7' i neck (Kim 3 an inniinnmy an cx'tiii itingy eimncnt onmwitinp means, a (sonin means. and

dupfmi to enno the, cow

M ni iH'LViHQ: :1 pin miiby nmzms, :munh'oiiing neonata -1mm means, and 2L ixiitnblc mop mm'i'ibni' \UHHPCifHi to the controlling and movable n 13inmomentnmof the iiiiuinq' Moment from an initial position.

:1 indicv i", an er-chibiiiin -strip, a pan 0 i'oilni's 0pm: in); aiturnntvi as receiv- 121cmhairs :1 n! iic tape cnnnvctiing the M Lin) si'iips in inn 'c'uiieis. an ODCIHUIUI (i m i'niiwg :1 pair of solenoids conin ind ionKinginocinmisn'i, :in exhibitingpi-iofi' innmiiic iuiieis fanning; alteri-wuivim xnomhei's,staplesarranged formm in ifnc no: mniiions of the mm connected to the strip and adapted m cngugv mid HUGS in chm, 2L circuit, gears on the \x lfiiicl'fi, Ll EQYUiUiJiU pinium :1 lover (Om'kl'liliiifliif with the pinion, :1 goal Lin: lawn and servingin engage in" aim m rs, =1 naii'ol' solencizcnlis connnuiving U14. suinnoiiis m the, win: i-niiei and 1, invci' vxtmnding out v Min of tin: indinilitiir to pni'n'lil'i .1 lining Oi HUBQQiIflHiRHl. ieiLinmny i3. :0 cinini Lhn {orvguing as our own We ilEl.'(1iH !\i Aii'iXOki our signatures in 31in gncncnw of two wifnnssos. 

